G14 to double in size by end of the year?

BRUSSELS, May 17 (Reuters) - The G14, which represents 18 of Europe's most powerful clubs, hopes to double in size by the end of the year and open its doors to clubs across the continent, general manager Thomas Kurth said on Thursday.

The decision was made at a board meeting in Glasgow on
Wednesday during which Olympique Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas
was elected as G14 president following the departure of former
Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein.

'Aulas was only elected after achieving a commitment from
all the clubs to the principle of enlargement,' Kurth told
Reuters.

'We hope to expand to double our membership by the end of
the year.'

Set up in 2000 to give its clubs a greater say in how the
game is run, the G14 admitted four further members in 2002.

It has since become embroiled in a battle with soccer's
governing bodies over issues such as compensation for players
injured whilst on international duty and the international
calendar. This has led to a number of court actions.

The formation of a pan-European or a wider international
group was discussed during a meeting in May 2006 hosted by the
G14 and attended by 25 other clubs from Europe, Africa and Latin
America, sources told Reuters at the time.

'It had been discussed before and there was much sympathy
towards expansion. But nothing happened, but now it definitely
will,' Kurth said.

He would not be drawn on possible new members of the G14,
which includes Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus and
has been accused in the past of being elitist and only
representing the interests of big clubs.

'We will outline the criteria in the coming months, one of
which is already agreed and that is in sporting excellence. But
this will be a balanced and geographical expansion and nobody
will be excluded,' Kurth said.

Sporting excellence will be based mainly on a club's
performance in European competition and will take into account
their UEFA club ranking, he added.

'But if a club has a geographical advantage, this could
compensate for a poor ranking,' he said, adding that G14 had
around 20 applications of interest in joining since its
formation.

Kurth said Chelsea would meet all the criteria if they chose
to apply for membership.

Sources within the G14 told Reuters that Chelsea had
indicated their preference to join. But one said that some
clubs, most noteably Arsenal and Manchester United 'felt
uncomfortable with the idea'.

Another source said Celtic, who attended the meeting in May
last year, and their Old Firm rivals Rangers are 'towards the
top of the pile', while others believed to be in the frame
include Red Star Belgrade and Galatasaray.